Worst blow Torktugans seen in months. The hatches were battened and sane men were home in bed. Uzugg Ug was not sane, nor was he a human man. The Big Chief of the Red Jaw Skull Face tribe was sneakin'. Now Uzugg was truly a get in their face, bash 'em type in the main. But when it came to liftin' shinies off of Ded Fings what wasn't dead, the Big Chief could get all cunnin' plan, see.

Uzugg had it on good authority that them Ded Fings had locked some shinies in the old Harbor Master's strongroom. Uzugg knew because he was the reason the town would soon need a NEW Harbor Master. Uzugg chuckled as he watched the rain beat the streets into mud. The big orc jangled the ring of keys at his belt. Uzugg had the Master's keys!

"Ledz go!" growled the Chief. The Chief figured the rest of the ladz should be in position by now.

Gothma da Brute and Uma Gooma da Shaman shuffled toward the street door. The little group of orcs had taken refuge from the rain in this big hut. The shutter was loose on a window. There had been a watchman, but humies were squishy.

The orcs spot a sentry.

The wounded sentry crawls into the building (so the roof comes off). There's a sniper in the tower!

The rest of the tribe shows up (and gets leveled by the invisible crowd of innocents fleeing the carnage.)

The rest of the Ded Fings bundle out of their barracks. The Sea Singer trips in the dark. (Wet stairs.)

Confused rushing about in the darkness.

Uzugg and Gothma climb in a window as Ded Fings rush toward them.

The tribe closes in. Grumpus (lower right)discovers a Lucky Find.

A Skeleton Mate and the recovered sentry jump Gothma. Fools.

Bash-Bash charge! Gothma looks at the bodies of Uzugg and the Ghost of Elvis (sadly they were removed before the photo).

Post BattleDa Ded Fings (no idea what playtable might call 'em) fled with 2 heroes and 2 henchmen Out of Action! Waughhhh! Everyone gets better or at least don't die (or if it died it wasn't a hero). The Ded Fings earn enough gold to buy 3 Lucky Charms, of course one is fake.

Uzugg dies! The tribe is rich, but leaderless.

Last edited by Von Kurst on Sun 4 Aug 2013 - 19:51; edited 2 times in total

Hee, hee! Sorry about that. I had the post nearly finished and lost everything to a random keystroke. When I did it the second time I got a bit creative!

Week 1--Torktuga (Cont'd)

Yeggmen, Part II

Twas a dark night, black as pitch. Then a mist rolled in from the sea. Them Sartosan's they paced about, guarding the old officer's club. They couldn't see spit, I tell ye. Well they paced the streets (and like to get lost themselves), then this bleating and baaing started off in the fog. Like some sheep had got loose, only they had the sound of BIG sheep that wasn't quite right, but you know how the fog messes with sound.

One of those Sartosan lads wandered off into the mist to see what was what. Well you know the swab never come back. So the other two start to worry. But they hear nothing but faint sounds of odd sheep. So another swab goes to look for the first. Everyone heard what happened to him. Screamed to wake the dead, he did.

The last guard defends the strongroom. Happy Jack plays the piano as the Beasts burst through the door.

Now there's a bit of yelling and a lot of running about. You know how folks get when the screaming starts. But then it got even weirder, this strong wind comes in from the east. Blows the fog to ragged shreds. Folks is running, screaming. The bleating and baaing gets louder and seems to come from all around. The wind screams through the rigging of the ships in the harbor. Then the night seems to get even darker, like the wind blew in a cloud bank, you know?

The Sartosan crew spills out of their barracks into chaos. In the foreground the Beasts' raiding party is knocked down by the fleeing crowd of late-night revelers that you always get in pirate towns.

No one saw it clear, it was so dark. But them Beasts will talk about it for years after. One minute a whole herd of them is swaggering up the street bold as you please. The next a crowd of lubbers just tramples them flat. And as the crowd pushes and shoves, old Hook, Paramalfait the Bretonnians call him, he's kind of a local swamp devil; old Hook is suddenly there. In the crowd, but not, you know? Old Hook he just rips that Beast shaman a new one. Quick as that! Then Hook, he gone. Gave them Beasts something to think about. Yes sir.

The town.

Post BattleThe Sartosans couldn't hit whales in the gale. They fired off some pistols and legged it. A cabin boy won't run so quick anymore. Lads got a gimp now. One of the crew may have died, or that may have happened later...

The Beasts got a nice chunk of change. The shaman takes a Leg Wound home to remember Hook by. The Beasts also gain 2 Pirate Curse Points in addition to the 2 Campaign Points earned.

COOL STUFF! I love the Piano Player...any chance of a close up? The Gaming table is SO BEAUTIFULLY DONE that the occasional unpainted minis is forgotten. The Fleeing Crowd is becoming an evocative & very dangerous group; getting a bunch of those fleeing Villagers from G.W.'s plastic Giant would make a good representation...a project for someone with way too much time on their hands.

Thanks for the text fix...I'm glad I didn't offend you with the criticism.

_________________"I'd NEVER join a club that would have me as a member." Groucho Marx

Playtable does pretty good, eh? I'm not sure what he's working on these days, but I know he has a whole tray of props ready for the next project whenever he starts it.

A good suggestion. I used to post on a bunch of forums (mainly ones I joined in order to play in on-line campaigns), but I cut it down to this one after the novelty wore off. The players know where to look if they are interested and folks who have moved out of the area (like Da Bank) can keep up if they want to._______________________________________________________________________________More Week 1 SkirmishesWe have only natives and pirates this round so all games take place in Torktuga.

Rock the BoatA Defend the Find variant

playtable wrote:

I was attacker, day time, forgot weather I think.I rushed the Sartosans from both sides; one crossbow on each side. His shooting was miserable, so was mine.

Swarmed them in HTH. I had 2 OOA, I think, at least one cursed crew in that.He ended up with 3 heroes on the boat...me - none.Again, no injuries or death for me!One “The Cursed” (Sharpie) became a hero on his 1st advance!I now have a BS4 crossbow hero. Woot.

After the game I found:3 toughened leathers in a crate and some gc.And 3gc in a capsized rowboat.

Bob might have lost a member of his crew. A gunner becomes a LGT for the pirates AND gains the skill Hunter. One of the salvaged cargo yields Great Coats, too. _____________________________________________________________________________Street BrawlClan Pestilens, The Beasts and The Lizards

Pustus Pestilus, Priest of the Order of Virulence, surveyed the human town through squinted eyes. The bright sun was painful to his refined Skaven vision, but Pustul reveled in the chance to show devotion through suffering. He longed to share his pain with his minions. They would be stronger for it, yesss.

"Forward-go-advance!" the Priest ordered. Pustul's pride, the great rat ogre growled and shambled forward. The rest of his minions followed the fearsome beast into the light. Pustul took the traditional Place of Honor in the rear.

The inhabitants of the town were suitably impressed, they fled at the mere sight of the priest's entourage. Pustul strutted into the square with pride. Perhaps next time he visited the town he would ride on a palanquin...with trumpets. His entrance was marred by unseemly bleating, growling and hissing. Mutants! Unclean! Scaled Ones!

The Beasts confront the Lizards and the Plague Monks. A forlorn trio of human press gangers shadow the Beasts. We all laughed at Chad's opportunity for even more easy experience...

The Bray-chief roared his defiance as the puny Scaled Ones chirped and fled. Ginning evilly, the chieftain spun in place to confront the startled man-things who thought they had been stalking him. The huge beastman took a moment to savor the man-things' fear, then he charged with a roar of delight.

The chieftain closed swiftly, the puny man looked frozen. The beast swung his weapon to cleave the fool in two. The man was not there! He stepped back at the last possible second. The chieftain was spun nearly around by his momentum. A heavy blow struck his skull. The huge creature crashed to the earth, senseless.

Post BattleThe Lizard's fled first with 4 or 5 skinks and a Great Crest out of action. One skink died of its wounds. The Great Crest suffers a Leg Wound (3 leg wounds in the first two battles among 5 warbands). The Lizards buy Lucky Charms.

Chad had inflicted most of the damage with his chieftain and shaman. Against the rat ogre things didn't go so well. The centigor went frenzied just when Chad wanted to pull back to draw the Skaven closer to the melee with the Lizards. The rat ogre got the centigor and a bestigor as well as a gor and a hound. Chad fled as soon as he was able. (He lost 2 heroes, a gor and a hound in the last turn.) A henchthing died, can't recall if it was a gor or a hound. Chad suffered one Deep Wound, something else that didn't sound good, and a Survived Against the Odds.

The Plague Monks:Palor of the Pale Bones, the Sorcerer, suffered an Old Battle Wound. The Skaven made much gold and attempted to buy Lucky Charms as well. Out of four, two were defective. Pustus protested the shoddy hu-man construction but did not receive a refund. Two Novices were recruited. (I started with 6 heroes and the rat ogre.)

Oma Gooma was having himself a time. Still his ladz was looking a bit ragged. Dem Scaly Wags kept hiding, sniping from the rooftops. Gits would not stand an fight like orcs. Well except for those three dat skewered old Uggum da Nutta. Uggum ought be ashamed of himself, there was only three of the little gits!

"Bash no Dog! Bash bash!"Then Bash-Bash upped and bashed Og-Og. Never knew when old Bash-Bash would need to bash something. Og-Og ought not have taken his eyes of the git. From the mess it didn't look like Og-Og would make that mistake a second time.

"Gothma kill! Gonna kill! Kill!" shouted Gothma as he charged down a narrow alley. Oma Gooma couldn't see what Gothma was killing, but the shaman had the ladz send some arrows at the buildings on either side to be safe. There was a wet sounding 'thunk' from the alley, then a couple of squishy 'thwacks'. Gothma staggered back out of the alley and collapsed. Uma Gooma decided it was time to bug out.

Post BattleThe Red Jaw Skull Faces got some cut up and ran. Og-Og died. Still Gothma got better and got a promotion! So did his fellow Brute, Magoth. The ladz tripped over a drunk humie as they fled. Uma Gooma sacrificed the git to Gork.

The Lizards freed a Dwarf Slayer pirate during the fight. The dwarf joined them for the duration. 2 skinks were killed. There is talk of recruiting some saurus braves to stiffen the ranks a bit.______________________________________________________________________________The Great GunLarceny and Kidnapping down by the Harbor

Wind whipped the rigging of the ships anchored off shore. Pustus Pestilus climbed the steps from the jetty toward the gun emplacement above. Soon-soon the man-thing gun would be his! Then...

A man-thing covered in bright rags stepped from behind a ruined wall beyond the cannon. The man held a tube that pointed toward Pustus...

BOOM!The blast nearly deafened Pustus Pestilus. He was unharmed, but disgusted to note that the hail of shot had shredded his minions. Suddenly he and the rat ogre were all that faced the man-thing scum. The ogre was playing with his food again, so there was nothing for it but Pustus had to charge a cowering man-thing. Pustus rushed to sacrifice its soul to the Horned One. But the puny thing was proving hard to kill. Pustus was aware of more man-things rushing to the fight. "Betrayed!" thought the priest as he ducked from a thrust. The priest felt a searing pain in his chest, then no more.

Post BattleThe Hide Behind The Rat Ogre strategy did not quite work a second time. The beast took a couple early wounds, then got cursed by rubber claw syndrome once he got into combat. The two T2 Initiates were poor meat shields for Pustus, who then had his own problems with rubber weapons. Pustus suffered a Chest Wound. Snick was captured and Snickit suffered a Chest Wound as well. The Novice survived.

The Sartosans made Snick a swab, they lost a gunner (with his deadly Blunderbuss!). The only hero taken out of action survived and exploration was kind. The pirates sold the cannon to fund extra crew for the voyages ahead.______________________________________________________________________________Campaign Points Week 1:Bob--Sartosan Pyrates--Scourge of the Sea: 4CPChad--Lubbery Beastmen--Scourge of the Sea: 3 CPPlaytable--Ghost Pyrates of Sartosa--Scourge of the Sea: 4CPRob--Lizardmen--Celestial Canopy--3 CPVon Kurst--Savage Orcs --Scourge of the Sea: 3CPVon Kurst-- Clan Pestilens--Silent Threat: 3 CP

COOL REPORTS; AND that is the coolest Lizard Lad illustration...this come from a non-Fan of Reptile Folk in general & G.W's take on them in particular. It seems that having two War Bands doubles the amount of bad luck you amass. Win or lose GREAT WORK!

_________________"I'd NEVER join a club that would have me as a member." Groucho Marx

The air conditioning failed at the local game store, so we spent a hot evening adventuring on the Karribean Seas.

Duel on the High Seas, Part IMeddling Sartosans try to intercept a smuggling run by Clan Pestilens

High Priest Commodore Pustus Pestilus brought the far-looking glass to his tortured eyes. To the Ninth Hell with the poxed sun! Why did it have to be so bright? The distant ship was closing fast. How had this vessel found them in this vast, bright blueness? Treachery! It was the only explanation. Pustus lowered the glass and glanced slyly about at his crew. Why were they not loyal? Had he not beaten and killed enough of them to prove the folly of betrayal?

The craven crew wailed as the enemy sail grew larger. The musk of fear saturated the ship. The enemy was much closer. Almost in range of the great guns Pustus had purchased from Clan Skurvy. Pustus bared his fangs. The traitor would see how a Plague Priest dealt with his enemies!

"Clear-prepare-ready for battle!" growled Pustus. The fool on the other ship closed too fast. The war-cog was going to come within range before the awkward ship could turn to present a broadside. His enemies were delivering themselves to his vengeance! Pustus took a moment to savor the irony.

"Fire-shoot-kill as the cannon bares!" ordered the Commodore. His hired crew scrambled to do his bidding. At the precise moment the gunner touched the linstock to hole. A sparks spat into the air, a cloud of smoke issued from the touch-hole. Then nothing. The gun had miss-fired! Those curs of Clan Skurvy had sold him inferior powder! Boils! Pustus would curse them with boils! The enemy ship came about and blunt muzzles pointed toward Pustus. Betrayed!

The Sartosans send another round into the evasive Plague Ship.

Man overboard! A Sartosan cannon crew is knocked into the drink, where the sharks of the Karribean rise to feed!

The Plague Ship evades the wallowing cog.

Post Battle

The Sartosan guns pounded the Plague Ship, dis-masting her and stunning Pustus. But Plague Monks evaded contact and sailed off the opposite table edge with their smuggled cargo. The lucky gunner was not even taken out of action by the inept shark. The Sartosans traded with a cheating Merchant.

Sartosan Pyrates--1 CP

Clan Pestilens sold their cargo for a nice sum and kept a crate of Greatcoats for themselves. With victory all thoughts of revenge and mayhem were momentarily forgotten. Pustus was able to land a great fish to provide a feast. The Skaven met the same cheating merchant and recruited some giant rats. The merchant had one working Lucky Charm...

When we got close enough Elvis and Squig Face, both ethereal screaming ghosts, ran across the water towards where the oncoming ship was to be.

A frenzied totem warrior tried to diving charge-leap but failed the initiative test and just fell in the drink. Easy prey for 2 ghosts.

Both ethereals failed their Ld tests and sank out of sight.

More of the Amazon crew ends up in the sea.

With 1 or 2 others OOA from shooting the effectiveness of the Ghost Pirates was such that they chose to rout.Amazons win with 2 cargoes aboardPost Game:The 2 ghosts both had a soggy full recovery and the undead Orc boss died. Found the town to trade in.

Ghost Pyrates of Sartosa--1 CP

Amazons--5 CP______________________________________________________________________________Duel on the High Seas, Part IIIThe Sartosans attack the weakened Ghosts

playtable wrote:

Ghost Pirates are low warband and carry 3 cargoes.

Exchange of pleasantries.

The quick reloading handgun in the bow gave me fits but he missed a lot.Even the Sartosan blunderbuss hit 4 but did nothing.I went almost straight for the other side of the table to get off without a fight but it was not to be.One more turn and I would be off the table but then Sartosan shooting had it's best turn. Sartosans took a henchman OOA, then the helmsman fell. With the wind against me, we drifted back onto the table. Before I could man the wheel again we were rammed and boarded!His charges stunned my shooty hero but that was about all.My ethereal counter-charges made the difference being able to float through everything to get where they were needed, along with other charges. Amazingly the cannon crew did very well with their one dagger attack.

Post Game:Ghost Pirates win and capture a ship!One henchman dies and one is captured this time.At least one henchman died on Bob's side but I did succeed in capturing him.I did however capture his Captain! I ransomed him back for a blunderbuss.I ended up with the cheating merchant but have a skeleton mate with haggle (and now a blunderbuss) so it's all fine.

Ghost Pyrates of Sartosa--7 CP (1 for playing, 1 for winning, 1 for taking a Scourge of the Seas Captain OoA, and 4 for capturing the ship!)

Bob's Sartosans had three heroes and a henchman OoA. The Captain was captured, a Mate will miss a game do to an Arm Wound and the henchman died. The Sartosans ended up marooned. Lost at sea. (Not because they lost their ship, but because they rolled low on finding a Re-supply source.) They did capture one of the Cursed.

Only Google Forums seem to be effected for moi. That aside, the naval actions were SPECTACULAR. The Ghost Pirates were recognizable from their full coloration while the Living Sailor Lads tended to be gray....nice color coding there. GREAT REPORTS as always!

ANNEDUM: My Google is still SNAFU, but by disabling two new MicroSoft plug-ins I can now see the photos in ALL THEIR GLORY!

_________________"I'd NEVER join a club that would have me as a member." Groucho Marx

I'm glad you can at least see the photos without jumping through hoops. I think playtable did pretty good this week.

Duel on the High Seas, Part IVThe Amazons attempt to sneak a cargo past Clan Pestilens

The Priest High Commodore ran his tongue over his teeth. The silly female man-things had fallen into his trap! True the wind was against him, but all the better to block their attempt to get past him. The wind would carry them right into his jaws!

A bright beam of light lanced out from the other ship. A small smoking hole appeared in the Plague-ship's railing. The Priest High Commodore stepped back behind a couple of Novices to better observe the affects of this new weapon. The enemy cannon spoke as well; but the shot flew long, well in the wake of the laboring Plague-ship.

"Fire-blast-boom the cannon!" ordered Pustus. "Sink them!"

With trepidation the hired gunners set to their task. Alas the result was another misfire. Pustus gnawed on his own tail in frustration.

"No matter!" growled the Priest High Commodore. "Close with them! Board them with fire and steel-cut-maim! More sail-canvas-cloth! More!"

CRACK!The mizzenmast crashed down unto the luckless gunners. The Plague-ship slowed even more as the tangle of canvas and wood was cut free of the ship.

Post BattleWithout a mast the Plague-ship fell far behind its prey. The Amazons tried a few more rounds to maybe start a fire or two on the laboring cripple, but had no more luck damaging the skaven vessel. Small arms fire was equally ineffective, the S4 Sunstaff couldn't even wound a giant rat.

The Plague-ship limped back to Torktuga. Despite the disappointment, exploration was kind. The skaven numbers reached fifteen. A Scroll of the Rat Familiar was found, as well as several spears and other sharp implements. An attempt to procure Warpstone Amulets ended with the Initiates returning from the market with obvious fakes...Clan Pestilens--1 CP

The Amazons continued on to their fortress, the Heart of Darkness. They made huge amounts of money and bought lots of baubles and pretty stones.Amazons--2 CP

HOORAY! GREAT LOOKING sea battles...the shiny, blue games board sets off the ships nicely. GREAT STUFF!I pictured the Amazons on an after action shopping spree replete with sunglasses & those decorator shopping bags the Girls seem so fond of, but still armed to the teeth.

_________________"I'd NEVER join a club that would have me as a member." Groucho Marx

Nice mental image there, Nala! I very much enjoy reading these reports VK, keep us updated.

BTW, you may have mentioned it in another thread, but did you guys make those ships, or were they store bought? Been thinking of doing a similarly-themed campaign in the future, and some ships like these would be oh-so-cool!

GREAT LOOKING sea battles...the shiny, blue games board sets off the ships nicely.

Thanks for your kind comments. The shiny board is a recycled part of the stage floor for Midsummer Nights Dream.

Quote :

BTW, you may have mentioned it in another thread, but did you guys make those ships, or were they store bought? Been thinking of doing a similarly-themed campaign in the future, and some ships like these would be oh-so-cool!

I may have, but I know the answer to this question. I like questions I can answer! Playtable built these ships back in the General's Compendium days.

Deafnala wrote:

I pictured the Amazons on an after action shopping spree replete with sunglasses & those decorator shopping bags the Girls seem so fond of, but still armed to the teeth.

Rob stopped by the LGS on Sunday to play some make-up games. I hadn't used the Savage Orcs at all on Thursday, so they fought the Lizards. In keeping with the theme of the week we fought another ship duel (although we had to use my toys since playtable was unavailable.)

Side note, the air conditioning was working again. Turns out it was never broken, someone just flipped the breaker that controlled power to the unit off and no one thought to check if it was on...

Duel on the High Seas, Part V

Uma Gooma, Shaman and Big Chief of the Red Jaw White Skulls fought with the unfamiliar tiller. He was beginning to think he should have left this steering business up to one of the ladz. Or hired a sailor. Not that hiring them uppity gobbo gunners had paid off either, the Thunderboomas had yet to hit the Scaly Wags there. The little gits made lots of noise, that was about it.

BOOM!Another round shot sailed over the enemy ship. The Scaly Ones fired a round in reply. Water spouted off to larboard as the ball fell short. Uma brought the wallowing ship closer to the enemy. Maybe once the muzzle touched the enemy hull the little blighters could do some damage.

CRASH!The sky opened up. Rain came down in buckets. The gobbo gunners were done for the day. Their powder was soaked through in an instant.

KaRASH!The two ships collided with a rending of timbers. With hoots, roars and chirps the Scaly Ones rushed to the rails. A whole wave of them little ones just jumped into the waves like fish. The big ones fell on Grumpas and Chunga with them toothy swords.

"Git yer guard up!" howled Uma Gooma. Chunga wasn't listening. The git was leaking blood all over the forecastle. Looked like a head wound. Bash Bash and Smasha howled and rushed in. Looked like Bash was missing his head. Them little ones shimmied up the side like it wasn't there. All of a sudden the tribe was neck deep in Scaly Wags!

Post BattleThe Orcs struck their colors. Bash Bash and Smasha died. Poor Chunga went stoopid. The orcs found a settlement to trade in, but could only just replace the Nuttas.Red Jaw White Skulls--1 CP

The Lizards returned to Tlax to trade. A skink gunner died.Scaly Wags--5 CP

Duel on the High Seas, Part VI"Here we go ladz!" shouted Uma Gooma. The Scaly Wags was taking this blockade thing serious-like, but the tribe had a full hold and revenge on their minds. The tribes' newest ship wallowed in the seas as bad as the old one had. Uma Gooma pointed the bow at the enemy vessel and carried on into the wind.

BOOM!A spout of water erupted off to starboard. The Scaly Ones were no better at this gunnery thing than a gobbo.

"Try and hit the zoggin' great fing dis time!" growled the Shaman as he brought the ship about to present the guns. The worried gobbos rammed extra powder, bowed and scraped. Uma prayed to Gork they didn't blow the ship up in the process.

BOOM!There was a thunderous explosion, but no one saw where the shot fell. Uma was of a mind that the gobbos had forgotten to load a ball, what with all the powder they had crammed in.

"Ise shot!" Grumpas clutched at an arrow, spun and flipped over the rail. Several gobbos cheered.

"Stop gawping and through the git a line!" bawled Magoth. There was a burst of activity as gits jumped to toss a line and the gunners rammed home another round. The air filled with arrows as the ships closed.

ZZZzzAPPP!One of them little skinks fried in a burst of Great Dadda Gork's green lightning. Uma Gooma blew on his finger tips. Show those gobbos how it done!

The ships grind together. The orcs counter charge. [Photos by Rob]

Havoc along the rails.

Uma Gooma abandons the tiller to add his magic to the orc's attack.

Dwarf overboard!

Post BattleThis time the Lizards suffered two skinks killed and a hero took a deep wound. The Scaly Wags ended up trading with a Merchant.Lizardmen--1 CP

The Red Jaw White Skulls gained much treasure. One of the hired gobbos died, but by happy chance, the tribe rescued a raft of castaway Savage Orcs; one of whom turned out to be a pretty good archer.Red Jaw White Skulls--5 CP